A number of bills were discussed in both the Houses of the Parliament today.

New Delhi:

A number of bills were discussed in both the Houses of the Parliament today. Lok Sabha passed the National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill giving powers to the NIA to probe terror attacks targeting Indians and their interests abroad.

Home Minister Amit Shah in the Lok Sabha asserted that the Modi government will never misuse the National Investigation Agency (NIA) law on the basis of religion but ensure that terrorism is finished off irrespective of the religion of the accused.

The other bills for discussion in the Lok Sabha comprised the the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019, to be considered and passed by the members in the House.

Last week, the Houses participated in a marathon discussion which ended two minutes short of midnight. The debate was about the Indian Railways and demands for grants for the Railway Ministry. The Lok Sabha sat till 11:58 pm.

Here are the Highlights of the Parliament session :

Jul 15, 2019

22:36 (IST)

Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 11am tomorrow

Jul 15, 2019

22:15 (IST)

There is a great need for foot crossing on the Jaipur-Delhi highway. About 100 accidents occur every year on this route. It is important to build pedestrian path and over bridges: Rajvardhan Rathore, BJP

Jul 15, 2019

20:57 (IST)

Issue of congestion in the city of Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh due to the passing to two National Highways through the city should be taken into account. The govt should construct bypasses to divert highway traffic in the city: Srinivas Kesineni, TDP pic.twitter.com/WMQWydfEWr

Discussion and voting on the demands of grants under the control of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for the year 2019-20In Kerala, there are about 4000 road accidents in a day, in which the compensation is very low, which needs to be addressed, Congress minister Muralidaran said.

With the fast pace of road construction, continuous maintenance will be required. Along with this, there is a need to build roads that are sustainable: BJP leader Kiran Kher

There is a big problem on the highways of Sikkim with Multiple Landslide. Road in Sikkim is a definite means of traffic. Railway is not and the only airport is closed due to bad weather: Indra Hong Subba, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha

Jul 15, 2019

15:18 (IST)

Amit Shah on NIA Bill debate in Lok Sabha

POTA was brought in to remove terrorism

It was incorrect to repeal POTA. Terrorism grew on a large scale in the country between 2004-2008. Mumbai blasts took place during that time

There was anti-terrorist law POTA, that was removed not due to allegations of abuse, it was removed to save the government. The UPA government removed it to save its vote bank

Members have expressed concern that this law may be misused. The Modi Government has no intention of misusing this law

Opposition cannot point fingers at us

There were Samjhauta blasts. Most of the suspects were freed. Can the UPA government be answerable why the accused went of free

Terrorism is neither Left or Right

Let me make it clear. The Modi government will never misuse NIA Law, it has no such intention. Its only goal is to finish off terrorism but we will also not look at the religion of the accused while taking action

Jul 15, 2019

15:07 (IST)

Government introduces bill to ban commercial surrogacyCommercial surrogacy will soon be banned and only close relatives will be permitted to act as surrogates to infertile couples for "ethical altruistic" reasons. The government introduced the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha that also provides for constitution of surrogacy boards at national and state levels, as well as that the intending couples should not abandon such a child under any condition.

The bill seeks to "allow ethical altruistic surrogacy to the intending infertile Indian married couple between the age of 23-50 years and 26-55 years for female and male, respectively".

Only Indian couples who have been legally married for at least five years would be allowed to opt for surrogacy, as per the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the bill, which was introduced by Health and Family Welfare minister Harsh Vardhan.

Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay alleged that the Centre was targeting the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government and has issued 10 advisories in as many days.

Registering strong protest, he said such steps are hurting the democratic system and also urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla not to allow same questions to be asked again and again in the House. "Why the West Bengal government is being targeted?," he asked in the Lok Sabha while stating that the Centre has issued 10 advisories in ten days.

Jul 15, 2019

14:11 (IST)

Lok Sabha takes up Bill seeking to strengthen powers of NIA

The Lok Sabha on Monday took up the discussion on an amendment bill that seeks to strengthen National Investigation Agency (NIA) by empowering it to probe offences committed outside India against Indian citizens or affecting the interests of India.

Moving the National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019 for consideration and passage in the House, Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy said that terrorism is a dangerous problem and senior leaders have been victims.

Terrorism should not be inspired by politics. This is against humanity: Dr. Satya Pal Singh, BJP

Jul 15, 2019

13:33 (IST)

Demand to raise royalty on coal was raised in Rajya SabhaDemands to raise royalty on coal, roll back of steep hike in airfares between Kerala and Gulf region and government intervention to help release fishermen captured by Pakistan were among issues raised during the Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha today.

This bill has already been passed in the Lok Sabha. It was also sent to the Standing Committee. Due to this subject being in concurrent list, the Center can also make laws on this. Whether it is implemented or not depends on the state governments: Nitin Gadkari, Road Transport Minister

All India Trinamool Congress and INC have opposed the introduction of the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill 2019 Lok Sabha

Jul 15, 2019

12:18 (IST)

Congress lawmakers submitted an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha over ''pension of disabled Army personnel''. The disability pension till now was not taxed by the government but recently, the government decided to tax it leading to opposition from the veterans community.

Congress party has given Adjournment Motion Notice in Lok Sabha over 'pension of disabled Army personnel' pic.twitter.com/BHmb1FiLUk

More than 60 million sisters benefit from this scheme. There was a report in which 27 crore BPL families came above the poverty line. Ujjwala Yojana also contributed in this: PHM, BJP

Jul 15, 2019

12:00 (IST)

Most engineering students are in jobs where engineering degree is not required: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor

Jul 15, 2019

12:00 (IST)

Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Human Resource Development Minister says, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is constantly improving the curriculum and is shifting according to the needs of the industry